Ecuador Semester Program

Ecuador Semester Program

Taylor University’s Spencer Centre for Global Engagement sponsors the Ecuador Semester Program in Cuenca, Ecuador. All coursework is Taylor University accredited and taught by qualified faculty approved by Taylor. The Ecuador semester program involves a three-prong partnership with Taylor University, the Universidad del Azuay, and the Verbo Church of Cuenca. The Ecuador programs provide an in-depth immersion into the Latin American culture, the Spanish language, and the beautiful country of Ecuador while taking classes in a major field of study or in general education.

The semester program offers a multi-disciplinary semester that incorporates courses from many majors and has a core of Ecuadorian culture and Spanish language study. Departmental courses and practicum experience in the students' respective areas of specialization are provided as well as general education courses in history, literature, and science. Academic departments currently participating in the Ecuador Semester Program includes Biology, Business, Christian Education, and Exercise Science. The Ecuador Semester Program is a full-immersion semester, offered both fall and spring semesters, with students living in home-stays facilitated through the Verbo Church.

Students travel to three of the four main regions of Ecuador: the Galapagos Islands, Amazon Jungle, the costal region while living in the Andes mountain, the fourth region, at 8500 feet.

Taylor University is not a "bubble" but an academic institution of engagement, an institution committed to life-long learning and ministering the redemptive love of Jesus Christ. All Christians are asked to engage their culture, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15 KJV). Scripture has revealed from Adam and the patriarchs, to Moses and Joshua, through Ezra and Nehemiah, God's intimate engagement with His people and His creation. Culture, our own and others, is best understood by engagement into that culture.

Taylor University Ecuador Semester Program provides a safe community for the student to engage the Latin American culture in a loving, nurturing, mind developing community that assists them in examining their own culture and their own engagement in the world. Cultures other than our own are sometimes difficult to understand or to translate and compare to our own culture. Ecuador semester students engage the culture intimately as they live with Christian host families during their stay in Cuenca. They are engaged in the community through Verbo Iglesia, Taylor's partner church, and its many outreach programs.

The students are engaged in the culture as they

attend the Verbo's language institute for the study of Spanish and the Ecuadorian culture

Why should students like you involve yourself in a university program that takes you out of your comfort zone? Because engaging education requires the student to take ownership of what one learns, to seek truth and knowledge, and apply and live that learning with their faith. Engagement is how we learn best.